In celebration of the award-winning Baby Prodigy brand’s 20th anniversary, company founder Barbara Candiano-Marcus announces her next venture: an animated preschool series called Sensational 5!
Baby Prodigy continues to be a favorite for children and is available on The Genius Brands/Kartoon YouTube channel with over 65 million views. Candiano-Marcus has decided to take this success to the next level by creating a television series that reinforces the premise of the Baby Prodigy DVDs: stimulating the senses to promote smarter, happier children.
Sensational 5! encourages parents and children to navigate the world through engaging the senses. Starring a character first introduced in the Baby Prodigy series, the diverse and inclusive cast of Sensational 5! solve problems in their world by using their senses: seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting.
Emmy-nominated writer Andrew Viner is on board to write the series. Viner has been writing children’s television for more than 20 years. He has written over 200 episodes of animation from Thomas the Tank Engine and Fireman Sam to PJ Masks and Noddy, as well as working on several shows for Aardman.
“I’m thrilled to be part of the team developing Sensational 5! It’s been great fun helping to develop the show — it’s full of action, comedy, character and science, and I’m sure that children worldwide will love it,” says Viner.
Launched in 2002, Baby Prodigy went on to win over 25 national awards including DVD of the Year and Best Pick from Parenting Magazine. The DVDs were distributed in the United States, Canada and internationally. Candiano-Marcus also partnered with Random House for a branded parenting book released in 2005, as well as secured dozens of licenses with toy and video distributors.
Four months after its release, retail giant Wal-mart picked up the Baby Prodigy DVD and sold tens of thousands of units in just four weeks. Other big-name stores such as Costco, Sam’s Club, Barnes & Noble, Toys “R” Us, Babies “R” Us, and many more followed suit. She negotiated several licensing deals including a partnership with Nestle Canada and Prestige Toy Company.
Now an accomplished author, parenting expert and executive producer, Candiano-Marcus’s Baby Prodigy video was inspired by her newborn daughter, Samantha, who suffered from unbearable bouts of colic at just six weeks old. Not knowing what else to do, Candiano-Marcus took to the internet and discovered something very intriguing. She found that certain types of brain stimulation, like sensory engagement, affects a child’s happiness and intelligence.
While Candiano-Marcus didn’t find a cure for colic, she did find that music and visuals helped soothe Samantha. With this newfound information, she wrote, produced and directed the Baby Prodigy videos to help other moms raise smarter and happier children.
Prior to being a stay at home mom, Candiano-Marcus worked in television production as an assistant producer and liaison between line producers and all departments including executive producer, writers and post-production. Additionally, as a story and production coordinator, assistant writer and production assistant, she produced primetime hits through Bright Kauffman Crane Productions/Warner Bros. Television, Brad Lachman Productions, Nickelodeon, BSB Productions, Paramount and HBO, including Baywatch, Martin, The Maury Povich Show, Jesse and many others.
Prior to working in television, Candiano-Marcus worked in marketing at BMG/RCA Music to help launch the careers of many talented Grammy-winning artists. She is a longtime member of the Producers Guild of America and has served on several committees.
“This has been an incredible 20 year journey! With all the new scientific research regarding stimulating the senses, it makes perfect ‘sense’ to launch the Sensational 5! at this time,” says Candiano-Marcus.
